


A Radio with No Power Source

by Briana_Dubs



Category: Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: ........, A thing, I like the videogame Don't Starve, M/M, about a radio, and I like Wilson and Maxwell and the story of how they met through a talking radio, and I uhhh, so here it is, that talks, uhhhhh, wanted to uhh, write a thing, yeah....
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-09
Updated: 2018-10-09
Packaged: 2019-07-28 11:03:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,221
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16240304
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Briana_Dubs/pseuds/Briana_Dubs
Summary: I wanted to write a story about Tony talking to Loki through a magic radio like how Wilson talks to Maxwell in Don't Starve.There's not much else to it, tbh.





	A Radio with No Power Source

Rhodey had given it to Tony one random night while they were in college. “I know you’ve already got everything, mister filthy rich billionaire, but I saw it in this little shop and my eye just kept coming back to it. And it felt like something you would like anyhow, so here,” he had said, shoving the box wrapped in paper decorated with bats and skulls into Tony’s space.

The teenager, excited to be getting a present from a friend for once instead of always giving presents himself, had shredded the wrapping in seconds. When he flipped open the box and lifted out its contents, his face broke out in a grin. “Retro tech!” he chirped, beaming at his friend. “You know me so well, Rhodes! Thanks!” He cradled the antique looking radio close under one arm and squeezed Rhodey into a hug with the other.

“I couldn’t figure out how to turn it on,” Rhodey admitted, almost sheepish. “It doesn’t look like it had a cord, so I didn’t really try very hard.”

Tony laughed. “But you figured since I’m already so good with my hands, that I could work some magic on it, huh?”

“Maybe a little, yeah.”

Tony smacked a huge, wet, disgusting kiss to the side of Rhodey’s face. Rhodey squeaked and wailed about the slobber. “Love ya Rhodes.”

Once he was alone, Tony set to the task of figuring out this little radio. It had a large circular speaker in the center, strange horn looking things on the top on either side, and two little red knobs below the speaker. Seemed simple enough, but where was the power source…? He lifted it and turned it over and over in his hands a few times trying to find where a wire may have originally connected. He didn’t see anything. The back was perfectly smooth wood, as was the bottom. It didn’t even look like it had nails in it, which, how would that work? What if part of it broke? Who fucking made this?

Idly twisting the knobs around, Tony grumbled to himself. “Fucking idiots probably used glue, what the fuck…”

_“Hello!?”_

Tony screamed. He physically threw the radio into the air at the sound of someone else’s voice coming out of the speaker.

“Fuck, fuck, no no no no!” He had to tumble to the floor in order to catch the little machine and stop it from shattering on the floor. “Jesus, fuck, that was close.” He let out a long exhale.

_“Ah, I didn’t imagine you! Hello! Hello, who is this?!”_

Tony sat back up with a few grunts and groans before setting the radio back down on his desk. He stared at the radio for a moment with a frown. How in the fuck…?

“Uh… hi?” He scooched his chair forward a little bit, screeching it against the floor. “Um, this, uh… My name’s Tony?” He lifted the radio up again. “Is this a phone? Did I call you by mistake or something?”

 _“Phone?”_ The voice on the other end parroted him. _“No, no, this… I made this myself. I don’t even know what a phone is.”_

“How the hell did you make this?” Tony asked, raising the radio higher to check the bottom over again. “It doesn’t even look like it has a power source. It shouldn’t be working.”

_“It is powered within, don’t bother worrying about it.”_

Tony scoffed. “Don’t bother!? You made a fucking radio with an internal power source smaller than anything I’ve ever seen, and you want me not to worry about it!?” He nearly slammed the radio back down onto his little desk. “Do you have any idea how badly I want to take this thing apart right now!?”

The other voice sounded very worried on their end. _“No, no, please don’t! It’s finally working, I don’t want to lose this opportunity!”_

“All right, fine, but the second it breaks, I’m taking it apart to study it.”

 _“That’s fair, I suppose…”_ The other voice didn’t sound too happy about it, but at least he agreed.

Speaking of. Tony needed a name besides ‘voice’ for whoever this guy was. He sounded British. God, the army and his father would throw a fit if someone outside of the US made technology like this before they did. “All right, hey, I gave you my name, it’s only fair you give me yours.”

_“Ah, yes, apologies. I got carried away. My name is Loki.”_

“Nice to sort of meet you, Loki,” Tony said after that, smirking a little. “Well, nice to hear you, I guess. Gosh, this is weird.”

Loki laughed on his end. _“Yes, I suppose it is.”_ Tony heard him sigh and then a bit of rustling. _“I just cannot believe it finally worked… For years I had thought I had done it wrong… The wrong rune, or enchantment…”_

“Enchantment?” Tony echoed, still smirking, “Don’t try to tell me this fucking radio is magic. It was in a rinky dink little shop down the road!”

 _“Was it?”_ Loki huffed. _“Well, I suppose it has been some years… Perhaps the old palace burned down…”_

“This thing was in a palace?” Tony squawked. He spun the radio around a few times. “You’re kidding.”

_“It was made by a prince, gifted to another prince, where else would you suggest it reside?”_

Now Tony laughed. “Get out! You’re a prince!? I’m talking to fucking royalty right now?!”

_“You are.”_

“Shut the your fuck- wow!” Tony laughed again. “Oh, man, dad would have a fucking _fit_ if he could hear me swearing around you. Or, where you can hear it. Whatever.”

 _“I am rather used to cursing, actually. My brother has a rather vulgar mouth when he loses,”_ Loki said. Tony could physically hear the smile in his voice.

Carefully picking up the radio, Tony carried it to his bed with him. He and Rhodey shared a room, but Rhodey was out of town for a few nights for family stuff. Still, even though he was alone, Tony wanted to try and keep quiet in the night time.

“How do I turn the volume down on this thing? It’s only got two knobs.”

 _“Turn the one on the right to the left and it should reduce the level of noise,”_ Loki answered.

Tony did. “Okay, talk, lemme see if it worked.”

 _“I built it. I know it did,”_ Loki snarked at him.

Snickering, Tony quipped back as fast as he could. “Hey, keep up the attitude and I’m gonna mute you.”

 _“Now that would just be rude,”_ Loki replied.

“Oh, I’m sorry, your _majesty_ , we would hate if I was rude, wouldn’t we?” Tony heard Loki laugh on the other end and relaxed against his pillows. Nice and comfy in a dark little room. “So, where are you from, Loki?” He asked once the other had fallen quiet.

 _“Asgard,”_ Loki replied. _“The realm eternal.”_

“Ex-squeeze me?”

 _“As… I… Whe… Where are_ you _from, Tony?”_

“Well, dad was from New York, and mom was born in Italy, but I was born in California.”

_“I do not know what any of that means.”_

Tony razzed. “Seriously? What fucking planet are you from that you’ve never heard of New York?”

_“I just told you. I am from- oh, you are Midgardian? Earth, yes?”_

“What the fuck’s that supposed to mean? ‘Earth yes’ where else would I fucking be?” Tony was scowling at the radio, as if it could see him.

_“Well, there is Vanaheim, I suppose… That was where the radio had originally been sent to. The royal family must have taken it with them to Midgard and forgotten it…”_

“Dude, what the fuck are you even talking about? Speak English. Are you telling me that not only are you a prince, but you’re a fucking alien prince?! Do I have that right?”

_“By your standards, yes, I suppose. I am not from your planet, at the very least.”_

Tony threw the radio onto his bed and sat ramrod straight up in bed.

“Shut the fuck up!” He shouted. “You’re a fucking alien and you built a magic radio to talk to people on other planets!? What kind of idiot do you think I am!?”

Loki huffed on his end. _“I understand that it must seem farfetched to you. It has been quite some time since I visited Midgard, myself. Centuries, in fact. Perhaps I could come and see you and prove my truth to you?”_

Tony rolled his eyes. “Yeah, sure, okay,” he scoffed loudly. “I’m turning this thing off now since you seem to think I’m stupid.”

_“Tony, wai-!”_

Click.

Huffing, Tony flopped back into his pillows and crossed his arms. “Asshole. Fucking makes a prank radio to trick people with… Fucking asshole.”

Shoving the radio off into a corner of his room, it would be years before Tony ever heard that voice on the other end again.

 

* * *

 

It had been Rhodey again. It figured it would be. He started it after all.

He had been helping Tony unpack and organize his new mansion in Malibu. He had found an old box and made a happy noise that had Tony turning his head to look at him. “Hey!” he smiled, “I remember this thing! Did you ever figure out how it worked?” As he spoke he twisted the left knob and before Tony could reach him to answer, an all too familiar voice came through the speaker.

_“Hello? This isn’t Tony, is it?”_

Tony barked out a laugh. “Oh no! Oh, fuck no! _You_ again!?”

“It’s a phone!?” Rhodey squeaked, nearly dropping the radio.

Loki sighed loudly. _“Hello again, Tony. So good to hear_ your _voice again after all these years.”_

“Fuck you,” Tony spit back. “I’m still pissed at you for trying to trick me.”

_“It was no trick, I assure you. If you would just listen-!”_

“Nope. Nu unh. You’re not gonna spout stupid alien bullshit at me again. I’m too old for that shit.”

“Alien?” Rhodey gaped at Tony. “What do you mean, alien? Tony, what the hell happened with this thing!?”

Tony waved a hand at the radio. “This fuck here tried to convince me that he’s an alien prince from another planet.”

 _“I_ am _a prince!”_ Loki huffed. _“If you would just let me find you, I could show you in person!”_

“Show me what!? That you’re just some lonely jerk trying to trick stupid kids? Well joke’s over, pal. I’m all grown up now, and if I ever saw your face I would not hesitate to kick the shit out of you.”

“Jesus, Tony…”

Loki groaned on his end. _“So close minded…”_

“Fuck you! I’m a fucking genius, asshole! Try your tricks on somebody else!” And with that, Tony switched the radio off once more. He took it from Rhodey and promptly shoved it up in the corner of one of his closets.

 

* * *

 

He had been going on a cleaning binge. Getting rid of everything that reminded him of Obadiah. Everything he could, he threw away, burned, or shredded.

Pepper had been the one to find it.

Holding it up, she called to Tony. “Hey, Tony, what is this?”

“Fucking piece of shit radio, that’s what,” Tony replied, reaching for it, only to stop as Pepper leaned away from him with it.

“All right, all right, so it doesn’t work,” she said, “That’s okay. We can just leave it out as decoration. I think it’s kinda nice.”

Tony groaned. “Nice?”

“We’re keeping it, Tony.” And she put it up on the mantle. The fucking mantle!

It sat there, mocking him every day. Every day until he heard a story on the news about a rainbow beam of light coming from the sky. People calling it something out of old Norse myths… He had looked up a few and saw the name ‘Loki’ and felt his stomach drop into his stomach.

Settling down, sitting cross legged on the floor of his lab, Tony turned the knob and took in a deep breath.

“Loki?”

He waited.

And waited.

“Loki, you there? It’s uh… it’s Tony…”

 _“What do you want,”_ Loki’s voice finally snarled at him from through the speaker.

Okay, so somebody was in a touchy mood.

Clearing his throat, Tony spoke calmly and quietly. “So, uh… is your offer to meet me still up for grabs?”

A pause. _“I beg your pardon?”_

“Well,” Tony had to cough to get his voice to return to its normal pitch. That first word had come out all squeaky. “I just. Well, I was just… You had said you could prove to me that you were from another planet if you met me face to face… So uh… Is that still an option?”

He heard Loki hum. _“You still want to meet me? I thought you were convinced I was a liar and a trickster.”_ His voice had turned into a vicious, angry snarl toward the end. Tony physically leaned away from the radio at the sound.

“Jesus, sorry. Didn’t think you’d be so mad about that… It’s been years, man.”

_“Yes, well. Forgive me if I am sick of being judged harshly. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a kingdom to rule and you are not helping.”_

Tony sucked in a sharp gasp. “You’re the king now!? But- but what about your brother!? You said you had… Loki…?”

Loki’s end was completely silent. Tony waited a long time, thinking Loki had turned off his end, before he heard a small voice reply to him.

 _“He’s not my brother… He never was.”_ And then it truly went silent.

For the next year and a half the radio never made another sound.

 

* * *

 

When he had been given the debriefing, Tony thought he had read the file wrong. He was sure he must have.

But no. There it was. Loki.

The word was staring him in the face and he couldn’t breathe.

Real.

Real!

Loki was real!

And he was apparently trying to rule the earth.

Fuck.

Fuck, fuck, fuck.

Tony almost forced himself not to look at the image of Loki in his files. Almost. But the temptation to put a face to the voice was too much.

And he.

Was gorgeous.

It honestly pissed Tony off how handsome Loki was.

He had no right being attractive on top of being an alien prince. Absolutely no right!

So he flew to Germany, guns blazing, and knocked him down a peg in his rage.

They walked Loki onto the little jet and Tony decided to be the one to strap him in.

“Comfy, Rock of Ages?”

The god hardly did more than glance at him. He didn’t even blink when Tony tightened his straps more than needed. Tony tightened them again, but still nothing.

“You know, you could at least have the decency to recognize me, asshole.”

Now Loki blinked and snapped his head to stare at Tony. His eyebrows rose a fraction and he stared at him with parted lips.

It took a moment before Tony saw a shimmering green flash in those icy blue eyes. Loki’s brows furrowed a fraction then. His voice was small, barely a whisper, but it was clearly a word. “Tony…?”

Smirking, Tony pretended to be fixing the straps as he said, “Oh, so it takes me cursing for you to recognize my voice. Good to know I made such a wonderful first impression.”

Loki sucked in a breath and leaned away from him. “You can’t… You shouldn’t be here… I don’t understand…”

Tony just smiled and stood up, winking at Loki as he did. “Consider me a believer.”

 

* * *

 

It was during the battle when he and Loki finally got to have another chat.

“Hey there, stranger,” Tony said, grinning easily.

Loki sauntered into the penthouse of the tower, looking just as smug as tony felt in that moment. He regarded Tony for a moment before smirking. “I must say, had I known you were such a brilliant mind back when we spoke all those years ago, I would have given better reasoning for you to believe me.”

“Yeah?” Tony smirked back, pouring himself a drink. “Little flirt, you. Go on, tell me more about how smart I am.” He couldn’t help himself but to keep smiling and flirting as he brought the glass to his lips.

Loki hummed and looked him over as they approached one another. “It is truly a shame we had to meet like this. I imagine I could spend eons picking that little brain of yours,” he was not even trying to be subtle as he gave Tony another once over.

Tony felt a buzz. And he wasn’t sure it was from the alcohol.

“Oooh, you really are a little flirt! But, hey, this brain is pretty damn big by Earth standards, I’ll have you know!”

Passing the staff between his hands, Loki hummed again. “Oh, I’m sure it is. Not just any mortal could build suits like those.”

“Keep talking like that and I might just let you have an up close and personal look at those suits, big boy.”

Chuckling, Loki shook his head. “I think I will have a close look all the same. After all, what man would I be to let a mind like yours go to waste?”

He raised the scepter, glowing bright blue, to Tony’s chest. The air felt physically charged as it inched closer and closer and- did nothing.

It made a dull clinking sound against the reactor in Tony’s chest and the glow faded.

Loki frowned and tried again.

Same result.

“This usually works…”

 

* * *

 

Thor had said Loki was locked up. In a prison cell.

It was only logical for Tony to call him up for a chat every now and then. After all, why let a fancy magic radio go to waste?

And Tony being Tony, everyone should have expected it would turn dirty. Fast.

He often found himself talking to Loki late into the night having their own version of phone sex. It wasn’t his fault! Loki was just as much of a flirt as Tony was. Putting the two of them together was a recipe for disaster any way you sliced it.

The nights he spent talking to Loki and touching himself were the nights he slept best, anyway.

The nights where he and Loki opened up about their pasts were the nights that stretched all the way into the morning.

 _“As much as I hate to admit it,”_ Loki said, one night, sounding tired, _“When I first heard your voice come through, I had hoped to make a friend in you.”_

“Yeah?” Tony smiled a little at the radio by his bedside. He knew Loki couldn’t see him, but he liked to picture his face when he spoke. “Guess I messed that up. Sorry.”

Loki huffed out a tiny couple of laughs. _“You would have been my very first.”_

“What? First phone sex fuckbuddy?”

_“First friend.”_

Suddenly the atmosphere felt a lot colder. Tony swallowed and felt a tightness in his chest. “Oh.”

Loki was quiet on his end. Tony could hear him breathing, but he wasn’t talking anymore.

“Well… We’re friends now, aren’t we? Does that count for anything?”

Loki chuckled now. _“I suppose it does.”_

“Am… Am I still your first?”

Loki didn’t answer, but Tony didn’t need him to.

**Author's Note:**

> Maxwil is love. Maxwil is life.  
> Also frostiron.


End file.
